The Sleeping Giant Mine

The property is located half-way between Amos and Matagami, in Abitibi, Quebec, in the territory covered by the Plan Nord of the Quebec government. It comprises four (4) mining leases covering an area of approximatively 458 hectares and 69 mining claims.

Among the assets, there is a mill with a capacity of 700 to 750 tonnes per day, or 250,000 tonnes per year.

The process is carbon in pulp. There are also installations to deposit the mill tailings, underground infrastructures including two shafts and drifts, a mechanical shop, offices, a store, dries and mining equipment, surface installations, an important inventory of parts, four (4) mining leases and thirty nine (39) adjacent cells and several other exploration properties.

The process plant was restarted by Abcourt in August 2016 to process ore from the Elder Mine and custom milling to utilize the full capacity of the mill. The mill is presently in care and maintenance.

A mineral resource estimate was published in January 2023.

View technical report for details.

Pascal Hamelin, President and CEO, comments: “The PEA results released today are excellent with an NPV_5% of 54 M CAD and an IRR of 33%. The results of the PEA are based on a mineral resource produced in accordance with current CIM standards and guidelines. The PEA envisions a rapid start-up of operations with minimal initial investment. This project could quickly become the next gold producer in Quebec. Targeted drilling towards areas with inferred mineral resources could potentially increase resources and some project economics. The PEA is considering 50% utilization of our ore processing plant. This new drilling could potentially increase feed capacity and operate the plant at full capacity. This capacity could also allow us to accept material from other deposits such as Discovery and Flordin in the medium term, and potentially increase the value of our assets. The next step is to now target promising areas to convert inferred to indicated resources for incorporation into a more detailed economic assessment. With the potential to add other deposits to the project, we anticipate strong economic potential for the region around the Sleeping Giant plant in the future. »

*The reader is advised that the PEA summarized in this press release is intended only to provide a high-level initial review of the project’s potential and design options. The PEA’s mine plan and economic model includes numerous assumptions and the use of inferred mineral resources. Inferred Mineral Resources are considered too speculative to be used in economic analysis, except as permitted by NI 43-101 in PEA studies. There is no guarantee that Inferred Mineral Resources can be converted to Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources and, therefore, there is no guarantee that the economics of the project described herein will be realized.

The Sleeping Giant Project has strong potential for mineral resource expansion based on more than 800 mineralized structures remaining open at depth, down plunge and to the east. Future modeling could offer an increase in the potential of the project. In addition, with a utilization of nearly 50% of its capacity, the current ore processing plant has excess capacity which could offer the opportunity to accept material from deposits surrounding the Sleeping Giant Project. The contribution of other deposits could positively influence the economics of the PEA. Moreover, Abcourt owns several deposits with mineral resources within a radius of less than 200 km from the Sleeping Giant project, including the Discovery, Flordin and Pershing-Manitou deposits.

A sensitivity analysis was performed to validate the impact on NPV_5% and IRR, before and after tax by varying the gold price and capital costs. The results of the analysis are shown in Tables 5 and 6 below; the base case is in bold in the tables. Note that a sensitivity analysis was also carried out on revenues and operating costs. The results of this evaluation can be found in the PEA.

The Sleeping Giant project is an underground mine that was operated until 2014. The operation extended from the N-55 level to the N-1060 level. The mineralization consists of numerous veins of gold. The mining plan consists of extracting 720,000 tonnes of ore, including new stopes that can be accessed almost exclusively from existing levels. Production is split between levels N-145 and N-1110 and will require rehabilitation of the drifts, escapeway, shaft service compartment and existing infrastructure. The stopes will be mined by the longhole, Shrinkage, and room-and-pillar methods with a tonnage distribution of 27%, 30% and 43%, respectively.

At full production, daily production will reach 350 tpd on 10-hour shifts on a continuous 7-day rotation. The preproduction period will span a period of one and a half years. The mining methods were established according to the geometry, in particular the dip, of the various stopes. For the long hole method, the sub-levels are distributed at an interval of 15 vertical meters. For the rooms and pillars method, the pillars left in place have an area of 3 m x 3 m, while the rooms have a maximum width of 6.0 m.

Abcourt currently owns the fleet of production equipment needed to carry out the production plan (cavo, rail loaders, various drills, etc.). A complete reconditioning of the equipment was considered to ensure optimal operation at the start of the work. Surface infrastructure remains unchanged; the ore being processed on site with the existing plant.

The Sleeping Giant concentrator processed ore from the Sleeping Giant mine from 1988 until 2014 and subsequently processed ore from adjacent mines from 2016 until 2022.

The concentrator process consists of ore crushing by a jaw crusher and two cone crushers in a closed circuit with a screen, primary grinding by a rod mill followed by secondary grinding by two ball mills in a closed circuit with cyclones. Cyclone overflow feeds a thickener and subsequently a pre-aeration tank, two leach tanks and four carbon-in-leach (CIL) tanks for a leach time of 46 hours. Lead nitrate is added to the grinding circuit to improve leaching. Once loaded with gold, the carbon is pumped from the CIL to be screened and eluted. The stock solution is directed to the gold room for electrolysis, sludge drying and ingot casting.

The concentrator has a capacity between 700 and 750 tpd. It will be operated 12 hours a day for a daily production of 350 t/d.

A site visit was carried out in order to validate the condition of the various surface and underground equipment as well as the surface infrastructures. This made it possible to estimate all the repair needed for a return to production of the site. Overall, the process plant, headframe, hoist buildings and other surface infrastructure were found to be in good condition. However, at the processing plant, an upgrade will be necessary for conveyors, crushing units, tanks and silos. Existing buildings and access roads are well maintained and capable of supporting activities related to a resumption of mining operations.

To facilitate an effective workforce management system, on-site accommodation and catering facilities have been provided for workers on rotation. These will constitute the main infrastructure investment required for the project. In total, an investment of $4.6 million is planned for the repair and construction of surface infrastructure, including drinking water and wastewater services.

An amount of $6.4 million is planned for the project for the reconditioning of the entire electrical network, including the modification of the arrival of the 25 kV electrical line from Hydro-Québec in order to include the various modules associated with the accommodation.

Underground, the mine dewatering system is currently in operation and all levels are accessible. Investments in piping will have to be made over time to ensure the continuity of operations. The emergency generator, which is mainly used for dewatering, must be upgraded. Communication systems are functional. In total, the reconditioning of surface and underground equipment is estimated at $6,7 million, including an amount of $4.3 million for process plant equipment.

For the mine tailing facility, certain work will have to be carried out in order to be able to store the mine tailings generated by the 720,000 t of ore milled in the concentrator. It is expected that cells 1 and 2A currently in place will be able to accommodate the tailings generated by the concentrator following dike raising and dredging work during the project. Cell 2 will continue to serve as a water recirculation basin towards the processing plant, while Cell 3 will serve as a polishing basin. The treatment of the tailing’s mine waters before their discharge into the environment will be carried out in a manner similar to that of the last years of operation of the site. In total, an amount of $10.9 million is planned for the development of the tailing facility.

The project is located in the southern part of the territory of the Regional Government of Eeyou Istchee James Bay. The regional government is responsible for the management of these lands, which are public lands in the domain of the State.

The current project is considered an existing mine, and not subject to the environmental and social impact assessment and review procedure. The activities that will be carried out fall within the framework of the Environment Quality Act and the Regulation respecting the regulatory scheme applying to activities on the basis of their environmental impact.

Abcourt currently has most of the certificates of authorization allowing it to mine and process the ore. However, a request for modification of certain existing authorizations will have to be presented concerning work related to drinking water, wastewater treatment and the tailing facility.

Restoration costs for the Sleeping Giant Mine have been estimated at $12.1 million, taking into account the dismantling of surface facilities, including new accommodation facilities, water management infrastructure and the restoration of the tailing facility. The restoration work is planned to take place over 2 years.

A 2.0% royalty was applied to the Sleeping Giant project on all ounces of gold produced.

This PEA was prepared for Abcourt Mines Inc. by InnovExplo Inc. and other industry consultants, all Qualified Persons (QPs) under NI 43-101. The QPs have reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. The affiliation and areas of responsibility of each qualified person involved in the preparation of the Sleeping Giant PEA are listed below.

Mr. Pascal Hamelin, ing, President and Chief Executive Officer of Abcourt, has verified and approved the technical information contained in this press release.

ABCOURT MINES INC.

An Emerging Canadian
Mining Company